JPH02303588A - Pure water forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically produce the pure water suitable for drinking and to execute the process after resetting of a power source in the event of a current interruption by providing a switching device for a discharging state in which the water in a water storage tank is discharged and a water taking state in which the pure water by melting ice is taken out of the water storage tank and a controller which switches the switching device to the discharging state when the power source is reset in the even of the current interruption. CONSTITUTION:While water 34 supplied to the water storage tank 12 from a water inlet 13 is kept stirred by a stirrer 17, the water is cooled by the cold air flowing in a cold air passage 24 to form pure water ice 35 without contg. impurities. The remaining water contg. the impurities is discharged from a pipe 28 for discharging by setting the switching device 26 at the discharging state and thereafter, the ice 35 is melted by a heater 16. The pure water suitable for drinking without contg. the impurities is automatically formed when the melted pure water is taken out of a pipe 29 for water taking by switching the switching device 26 to the water taking state. Further, the trouble that the water feeding is executed and the water flows over the water storage tank 1 is prevented if the switching device 26 is switched to the discharging state by the controller when the power source is reset if there is the current interruption in the forming process of the pure water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a pure water generating apparatus capable of producing pure water without unpleasant taste or odor.

(Prior Art) Traditionally, tap water has been used as drinking water in households.

(Department report that the invention seeks to solve) However, in recent years, due to the intensification of pollution of raw water in rivers, lakes, etc., powerful water purification has been performed, and as a result, tap water has become unpalatable and has a strong chlorine smell This made it unsuitable for drinking as is.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to be able to automatically generate pure water that is suitable for drinking as is, and in addition, in the event that there is a power outage during the pure water generation process, the process after the power is restored can be An object of the present invention is to provide a pure water generation device that can generate pure water without causing any generation of water.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The pure water generating device of the present invention stores water supplied from a water supply device and makes ice by cooling the water with ice-making cold air flowing around the outer periphery. a water storage tank, a stirring device that stirs water stored in the water storage tank during cooling by the cold air, a heating device that melts ice in the water storage tank by heating the water storage tank, and a water storage tank. a switching device that can be switched between a drainage state in which the water is discharged and a water intake state in which pure water obtained by melting the water is taken out from the water storage tank; and a control that switches the switching device to the drainage state when the power is restored from a power outage state. The configuration includes a device.

(Function) When producing pure water, water is first supplied from a water supply device to a water storage tank and stored, and the water is stirred by a stirring device and cooled by cold air flowing around the outer circumference of the water storage tank.
Ice forms inside the water tank. This ice does not contain any impurities and is gradually generated from the inner surface of the water tank.
Water containing impurities remains in the center of the water tank. Therefore,
The switching device is switched to the draining state to drain the water remaining in the center of the tank from the water tank, and then the water in the tank is melted by heating with the heating device, and after this, the switching device is switched to the water intake state. Then, the molten pure water is taken out from the water tank. By repeating the above steps, it is possible to automatically generate pure water that does not contain any impurities.

By the way, if there is a relatively long power outage due to a power outage or a user's power off operation during the pure water generation process, for example, during the ice making process, the ice may melt during the power outage. When the water supply to the water tank is restarted after the power is restored, a problem occurs in which the water in the water tank overflows.

In this regard, in the above-mentioned system, after the power is restored from the above-mentioned power outage state, the control device switches the switching device to the drain state, so the water in the water tank is forcibly drained. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the water in the water tank from overflowing.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIG. 3, 1 is a refrigerator cabinet, 2 and 3 are a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment formed in this cabinet 1, and 4 is a partition wall 5, 6 between the freezer compartment 2 and the refrigerator compartment 3, respectively. A case 7 of a pure water generating device is disposed within this pure water generating chamber 4 .

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the case 7 includes a bottom plate 8,
An inner cylinder 9 fixed on this bottom plate 8 and an inner cylinder 9 fixed on the bottom plate 8.
an outer cylinder 10 fixed to surround the inner cylinder 10;
j9 and a cover plate 11 that closes the upper opening of the outer cylinder 10.

A water storage tank 12 is formed by the inner cylinder 9 and the bottom plate 8 of this case 7.
A water inlet 13 is formed in a portion of the lid plate 11 facing the water tank 12. This water tank 12
The bottom of the tank is formed into a tapered shape that slopes downward toward the center, and a water outlet 14 is formed in the center of the bottom.
Further, the inner cylinder 9 constituting the peripheral wall portion of the water storage tank 12 is made of a material with excellent heat conductivity, such as aluminum.

15 is an ice sensor provided at a predetermined portion of the bottom of the water tank 12, and 16 is a heater as a heating device provided on the outer circumferential surface of the peripheral wall of the water tank 12 (the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder 9).

A stirring device 17 is composed of a stirring motor 18 and one stirring body rotationally driven by the stirring motor 18, and the stirring motor 18 is arranged in a cylindrical container 20 fixed to the lower surface of the MF 211. The agitation body 19 is disposed on the outside of the container 20.

In the outer cylinder 10 of the case 7, a cold air outlet 22 is formed at the back so as to face the cold air supply port 21 formed at the back of the pure water generation chamber 4, and a cold air outlet 23 is formed at the front. has been done. Further, the space between the outer cylinder 10 and the inner cylinder 9 is used as a cold air passage 24. 25 is cold air supply port 2
This is a damper that opens and closes 1.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a switching device consisting of a switching valve, which is provided at the connection portion between the common vibe 27 connected to the water outlet 14, the drainage vibe 28, and the water intake vibe 29, so that the common vibe 27 can be used for drainage. It is possible to switch between a draining state in which the common vibe 27 is communicated with the water vibe 29, a water intake state in which the common vibe 27 is communicated with the water vibe 29, and a closed state in which the common vibe 27 is closed. Also, top; among the own vibrators, the drainage vibrator 28 is connected to the partition wall 6 and the cabinet 1.
An evaporation dish (not shown) is exposed through the insulating wall at the back, and the water intake vibrator 29 is exposed through the partition wall 6 to a pure water storage tank 30 placed in the refrigerator compartment 3.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a cooler disposed at the back of the freezer compartment 2, and the cooled air generated by the cooler is sent to the freezer compartment 2, refrigerator compartment 3, etc. by a fan (not shown).
It is also supplied to the pure water generation chamber 4.

In addition, a water supply device 32 (not shown) consisting of a water supply tank and a water supply pump (not shown) is installed in the refrigerator compartment 3 in the cabinet 1, for example.
4) is provided, and this water supply device 32 supplies water into the water tank 12 from the water inlet 13.

On the other hand, in FIG. 4, reference numeral 33 denotes a $1111 device that performs the process of producing pure water, which will be described later, according to the flowchart shown in FIG.
8. Damper 25. The switching device f26° controls the water supply device t32, and a detection signal from the ice sensor 15 is input. Although not shown, this control device 33 is equipped with a power outage detection circuit, and when the power outage time from the power outage until the power is restored is relatively long, for example, 10 minutes or more, the process before the power outage is performed. After the power is restored, no matter what process the machine is in, it starts from the initial state, and if the power outage time is relatively short, within 10 minutes, it restarts from the process that was in progress before the power outage.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the power is turned on, first, in step S1, the power is cut off (
If it is determined that there was a power outage, proceed to step S2 according to YESJ, and if it is determined that there was no power outage, proceed to step S2 according to NOJ. Move to S3. Step S
2, the switching device 26 is switched to the drain state regardless of whether water is stored in the water tank 12. In step S3, the water supply device 32 is driven with the switching device 26 closed, and the water supply device 132 causes the water storage tank 12 to
A predetermined amount of water 34 (for example, tap water) is supplied and stored inside. Next, the process moves to step S4, where the damper 25 is opened and the stirring motor 1 of the stirring device 17 is turned on.
8 is driven.

When the damper 25 is opened, cold air at a temperature that allows ice making is supplied from the cold air supply port 21 into the pure water generation chamber 4, and the cold air enters the case 7 from the cold air passage 22 and enters the cold air passage 24.
In this process, the cold air cools the water 34 stored in the water tank 12, and the stirring motor 18 drives the stirring body 19.
is rotated, and the water 34 is stirred by the stirring body 19 to become fluid. As a result, transparent ice 35 containing no impurities is gradually generated in a cylindrical shape from the inner surface of the inner cylinder 9 of the water storage tank 12 as shown in FIG. 2 in the water storage tank 12. , and water 34 containing impurities remains inside.

When ice making progresses and a predetermined amount of ice 35 is produced, the ice sensor 15 detects this, and the detection signal is sent to the control bag fi.
It is output to i33. Then, the process moves to step S5,
When the damper 25 is brought into the closed state, the stirring motor 1 is turned off.
8 is de-energized and the switching device 26 is switched from the previously closed state to the drain state. By closing the damper 25, the supply of cold air to the pure water generation chamber 4 is stopped, and further formation of ice by the remaining water 34 containing impurities is stopped. Further, by switching the switching device af26 to the draining state, the remaining water 34 containing impurities in the water storage tank 12 is discharged from the common vibrator 27 through the draining vibrator 28 toward an evaporation dish (not shown).

Then, when the drainage is complete, it's time to switch! 26 is again brought into the closed state, after which the process moves to step S6 and the heater 16 is energized. When the heater 16 is energized, it generates heat, and the pure ice 35 in the water tank 12 is heated and melted by the heat. Thereafter, the process moves to step S7, and the switching device 26 is switched to the water intake state. As a result, pure water generated by melting the pure water 35 described above is taken out from the water storage tank 12 through the common pipe 27 and the water intake vibe 29, and is stored in the pure water storage tank 30. After this, the process moves to step S3, and the steps after step S3 are repeated, thereby automatically producing pure water that is suitable for drinking and has no unpleasant taste or odor by removing impurities from tap water or the like. be able to.

Therefore, during the pure water generation process described above, for example, during the ice making process (step S4), there is a relatively long power outage (10 minutes or more) due to a power outage or the user's power off operation. In this case, immediately after the power is restored from the power outage state, this is detected by the power outage detection circuit of the control device 33, and the pure water production process is restarted from the initial state ("start" in FIG. 1). Therefore, in this case, after the power is restored, it is first determined in step S1 whether or not there has been a power outage, and if it is determined that there has been a power outage, the process moves to step S2 to switch the switching device! 26 is switched to the drain state, and the water storage tank 12
The water 34 stored inside is forcibly discharged. and,
After this, the process moves to step S3 and a normal cycle is performed. Therefore, after the power is restored, water will not be further supplied into the water tank 12 while the water 33 is stored in the water tank 12, and problems such as overflowing of water in the water tank 12 can be prevented. In addition, the time of the above power-off state is 10
If the time is less than 1 minute, the control device 33 stores the stroke before the power outage, and after the power is restored, the process restarts from the stroke that was in progress before the power outage.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings; for example, the present invention may be configured independently without being incorporated into a refrigerator, without departing from the gist. It can be implemented with appropriate changes within the scope.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the pure water generation device of the present invention stores water supplied from a water supply device in a water storage tank, and stirs the water with a stirring device while filling the water storage tank. By cooling with the cold air flowing around the outer circumference, pure ice containing no impurities is generated, and after the switching device is set to the drain state to discharge the remaining water containing impurities, the water is heated by the heating device. By switching the switching device to the water state and taking out the molten pure water, it is free from impurities.
It is possible to automatically generate pure water that is suitable for drinking without any unpleasant taste or odor.

In addition, if there is a power outage during the pure water generation process,
By having the control device switch the switching device to the drain state after the power is restored, it is possible to prevent problems such as water being supplied after the power is restored and water overflowing from the water tank. This process can be carried out without any problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, with Fig. 1 being a flowchart showing the process of producing pure water, Fig. 2 being a vertical cross-sectional view of the main parts of this device, and Fig. 3 showing this device incorporated into a refrigerator. A longitudinal side view of the state, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the main parts. In the drawing, 4 is a pure water generation chamber, 12 is a water storage tank, 16 is a heater (heating device), 17 is a stirring device, 24 is a cold air passage, 26
32 is a switching device, 32 is a water supply device, 33 is a control device, 34 is water, and 35 is ice. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 jlliA figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A water tank provided to store water supplied from a water supply device and cool the water with ice-making cold air flowing around the outer periphery to make ice, and water stored in the water tank when being cooled by the cold air. a stirring device that stirs the ice, a heating device that heats the water tank to melt the ice in the water tank, a drainage state that drains the water in the water tank, and a system that takes out the pure water that has melted the ice from the water tank. A pure water generating device comprising: a switching device that switches to a water intake state; and a control device that switches the switching device to a draining state when power is restored from a power cut state.